Vehicle-wheel and tire.



M. CLARK.

VEHICLE WHEEL AED TIRE.

APPLIOATIOX ULEB maza, 1909.

Patented Nov. 7, 1911.

MELVILLE CLARK, OCB' CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

VEmLE-WHEEL AND 'Im Bpecicatlon o! Letters Patent.

Patentes Nev. "t, rsu.

Application ed August 2S, 1909. Serial En. wm

" Chicago., in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have inventednew and useful Improvements in Vehicle-Wheels and Tires, of which thefollowing is a specification, reference being had to the drawingsforming a part thereof.

The purpose of this invention is to provide an improved construction ofvehicle wheel rim and tire especially adapted for service on motorvehicles, such es automobiles, ante trucks and the like for road andstreet service.

It censists in the elements and features of construction shown enddescribed es indi` A cated in the claims.

' at the line 2--2 on Fig. 1.

In 'the drawings; Figure 1 is a. partly sectional side elevation of asegment of e vehicle wheel rim and tire thereon embodying thisinvention, the outer guard being partly broken away over one portion ofthe figure,

and a sectlon at another portion being made at the 'center7 of the tirein a. plane transverse to the wheel axis. Fi 2 is a section ig. 3 is asection at the line 3--3 ou Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is e. section at the line 4 4on Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a detail section at the curved line 5-5 on Fig.` 1.F ig. 6 is a detail section at the line Gfon Fig. 1. Fig. 7 is a similarView showing a slight modification. Fig. 8 is a. similar view showing afurther modification. Fig. 9 is a detail plan view of the reinforcementshown in Fig. 8. Fig` 10- is a. detail section of the outer rim of oneof the guards.

In the drawings, A vrepresents the wood felly of a vehicle wheel.

B, B, are vmetal guard plates secured to the felly for formin between'them and outside the periphery o the felly a tire seat, in

which a cushion tire may be retained and 'guarded as hereinafter moreparticularly set out. EachA of the guard lates com-prises for engagementwith the elly by seating thereon, an annular lian e 1, transverse to thewheel axis. and exten ing along the side of the, idlyyand an annularflange, 2 et right engles to the ange, l, Whili seats upon the peripheryof the fell extending toward the middle of the widt of the latter, theaggregate width of seidV Haugen. 2, 2, of the guard plates B, Rhei@ lessthan the Width of the periphery of the telly by an amount suicient forengaging between them the flange D1, of the inner tube, as hereinaftermore particularly described. The guard plates are secured to the woodtelly by screws, 3, 3, of the general character of lag bolts havingrelatively deep and narrow threads, such bolts being set through smoothbored apertures 1, in the Aflanges 1, the bolts from one sidealternating with 'the bolts from the other side, resulting in astaggered arr-an ement and such bolts bem-- lorf enoug to. nearlypenetrate the woedfolly, so that the bolts from the twoA sides lap beach other for the greater art o the width or thickness of the telly, treby deeeting any tendenc of the lateral stress upon the two guard pates to split the telly.

Each of the plates, B, is formed en its inner face a. short distanceinward freni the outer circumerence with an enmular recess or pocket 4,which is to aecomodate an outwardly projecting annular enge, 5, formedon the cushion tread member, C, of the tire for en ement with such Seatsto retain such t element in place be tween the guards. The Width, 0rdimension radially with respect tothe wheel, of the aruuilar recess orseat 4., is greater than that of the annular Ha e, 5, by an amountdesigned to ecco 'te the yielding of the cushion tread, C, inwardlyunder the lead compressin the ntiated inner. tube,D, winch is ledgedetween the said cushion tread member which encompasses it, and theflanges 2, 2, of the guard.s,B, which encomymss the rim. It may beunderstood that the inflatableftube D, is of usual'constructien forautomobile service,being com osed of rubber and embedded fabric so as.beicnpervious to air end nonstretohable, and strong enough .to bear theload and endure. the servwithout bursting, the ier v the cavity or larform, from which it is forced to an oval or fiattencd form by the load,but without being thereby widened enough to reach the lateral confinesof the chamber in which it isy detained, and, therefore, withoutliability of becoming chafed by rubbing against the inner surface of theguard plates B, which are the lateral walls of its chamber.

In order to prevent the inner tube, D, from rolling or sliding laterallyout of cen` tral position in its chamber, and so preventing it fromchafing against the side walls, or becoming twisted, 'with the resultantliability of cracking or forming wrinkles which become chafed resultingin fissures, they are incorporated with the fabric layers of such tube,l), lug plates, (i. distributed at short intervals about the outercircumference, having lugs Ga. ro'ectinr radiallv with resoect c e l tothe tube and also with respect to the wheel for engagement Vwith thecushion tread member. C, in metal-lined sockets, 13, which are embeddedin the latter.

To prevent the inner tube, D, from creeping around the wheel, it'isformed with an annular flange, D1, which projects inwardly at the innercircumference of said tube for engagement throughoutthe entire.circumference between the facing edges of the flanges, 2, 9., of theguard plate, B, the thickness of said flange, D, being enough greaterthan the interval between said facing edges When the guards arepractically bound up against the felly to cause said flange D1, to betightly compressed and gripped in thus drawing up the last applied guardplate by means of the securing bolts.

For increasing the effectiveness of the engagement of the lateralflanges, 5, of the 'cushion tread C, with the guard plates, B,

and for preventing the tread from creeping there are provided studs, 10,oblong in cross section, projecting at frequent intervals in thecircumference of the guard plates from the wall or vertical web of theannular seats, 4, of the guard plates into pockets 1l, which are formedat corresponding intervals in the outwardly facing surface of theflanges, 5. Preferably, the studs 10, are suitably secured, as byriveting, to the guard plates, rather than being formed integrally withthem, because in this manner they can be made of polished rod and lessliable to chafe the sides of the pockets, 11, in which they engage. Thestuds, 10, and the pockets 11, are relatively positioned in the membersto which they respectively pertain so that when the several members areassembled without load and without infiation of the inner tube theflanges, 5, have their outer corners remote from the wheel axis, (beingthe upper corner in the several transverse sectional views) lodged inthe corresponding corner of the recesses, 4, their inner cirlcumferences being separated from the inner circumferences respectivelyof said recesses,

4, by an amount estimated to be as great at least as any yielding whichwill occur under load when the inner tube, D, is duly inflated forsustaining the load; and the studs, l0. are located intermediate theends of the radially elongated pockets, 11, being spaced from the innerend by an amount estimated to be equal to the liftor outward movement ofthe cushion tread, C, when the inner tube, l), is inflated, and beingspaced from the outer ends of said pockets 1l, by an amount a littlemore than the space between the inner circumference of the flange, :3,and the inner circumference'of the recess, 4. rThe purpose and result ofthis relative spacing and positioning of the parts is, first, that whenthe inner tube is inflated and the wheel is under load, the outer end ofthe pockets, 11, stop against the studs, 10, a little later than theinner circumferences of the flanges` 5, stop against the innercircumferences of the seats, 4, but so that as the load continues orincreases the compression of the substance of the cushion tread memberwhich the load is forcing toward the studs eventually takes up theexcess, bringing the outer ends of said recesses, 1l. onto the studs,which, from that stage on, take a large proportion of the load andsubstantially carry the vehicle on the cushion tread member, l, and inorder that the studs may properly transmit this load to the treadmember, C, at its greatest depth or thickness in the direction ofpressure, z'. e. radially to the wheel` and not merely to the flanges,5, the pockets, 11, are deeper and the studs, 10, are longer than thelateral protrusions of the flanges, as clearly seen in Fig. 3. It willbe observed that as the Wheel rolls 0n the ground and the load comessuccessively over the several studs, each in its turn will travel in andout along the pockets 11, and that the constant tendency of the tractionto cause the tire to creep around the wheel will be liable to cause thestuds to rub against one side of the pockets as they thus move in andout along the same. To preventuwearing away the wallof the pockets, theyare preferably reinforced by a lining of more stubborn material than therubber of the tread. Such lining may be of canvas which is representedin Fig. 6, denoted by the numeral l2, or by the sole leather denoted, l2in Fig. 7, or by the metal denoted by 12b in Fig. 8. lVhen canvas isemployed, it is readily incorporated with or thoroughly adherent to therubber requiring no specific means of attachment other than such ad-Lucene h `rIfhe two guard plates, B, B, require con, neet-ion extending,across the plane of the 16 wheel in addition to their rigid fasteningto the felly to prevent them Ifrom being spread by lateral pressure ofthe tire in travel and for that purpose, bolts, 15, are extended fromone guard to the other, suit- 20 able apertured bosses, B2, B2, beingformed on the ards to accommodate the bolts, and the ou` ion tread, C,having apertures, C1, extending through it transversely of the wheel toaccommodate the bolts, such apertures being elongated radially withrespect to the wheel to accommodate the yielding lof the cushion treadof the load, and being lenough wider than the diameter of the bolts toavoid friction against the latter, which,

it will he observed will be prevented by the studs, 10, engaging therecess, 11, and stopping the circumferential crowding of the treadexcept to the very limited extent of the compression of the substance ofthe tread 85 which may occur at the engagement of said studs in therecesses or pockets, 11. In the absence of provision to the contrary,very severe friction and consequent heatin of the cushion ,treadresults' from 40 the ru hing of the lateral'surface of the treadelement, C, against the sides of the guard plates, B, as the tread iscompressed rom below, and yields not only the amount of that compressionbut also the amount of the yielding of the inner tube, D, under theload. This friction is relieved and the heating of the cushion treadsubstantially prevented by providing at short intervals in thecircumference anti-friction rollers, 16, mounted in metal bearingchairs, 17, em-

bedded in the side of the tread, C, with a .slight segment of thercllprotruding beyond the lateral surface of the tread and bearingagainst the inner surface of the guard plate. Preferably theseantifriction rolls are provided in two series concentric with each otherso that they stand in pairs, the two of each pair being in radial line.This is important because if there were but one 50 roller at any givenradial line, the lateral tread which would force the tread against theguard would cause itto fulcrum over the one roll, whether it was theouter or the inner one, and be forced against the guard, outwardly fromthe roll at the same side if it were the outer roll; but by proyidingthe two rolls in radial line 4and positioning the rolls opposite eachother at the opposite sides of; the tread for engagement with the oposite ard plate, the tread is practica y 79 guar ed from contact withthe guard plates 1n the movement which would chafe it thereagainst Inorder to permit the bolts. to be secured tightly without drawing theguards inward-toward .each other-but on the contrary keeping them spacedapart so that the anti-friction rollers 16 may roll freely on the innersurface of the guards as described, the bolts are each provided with aspacing 80 sleeve 15* whose ends form stop shoulders u against the innersurface cf the guards. The nut 15b can now be set tight without clampingthe rubber tread element.

The outer shoulders of the flanges, 5, of the 55. tread, C, are inclinedinwardly with respect 'to the plane of rotation of the wheel, and

the inwardly facing shoulders, 4", of the recesses,4, which engage theinwardly inclined shoulders, 5*, are cylindrical,--that is, paral- 90.lel to the axis of the wheel. From the relative form of 'these twoshoulders, it results that the flanges, 5, engage the recesses, 4,normally and before inflation of the yinner tube only at the corners orouter circumferences of the shoulders, 5, which seat in thecorresponding corners of the recesses, 4, the two shoulders, 5 and 4,direi-ging inwardly from each other. The purpose of this is that theshoulders may come into contact'over their 100 entire length when theinner tube is inflated; whereas, if they were in contact throughoutbefore the inflation of the inner tube, such inflation forcing the treadoutward at the middle part, would steadily reduce the engagement,tilting the flanges, 5, away from the shoulders, 4*. and leaving themengaged finally with the inner circumference of those shoulders whichwill reduce the area of resistance and engagement very materially.

To avoid chafing and wearing away the lateral surfaces of the tread, Cat the part which protrudes beyond the shoulders, 4*, and to preventabrupt bending liable to produce rupture at the angle where the flange 5sets off from the body of said tread member, and also to adapt theperipheral bead or flange, 18, which outwardly bounds the recess, 4. ofthe guard plate to endure contact with stones, car tracks and the like,

without bending or indentation said peripheral bead of each of the guardplates is thickened toward the inner edge and said inner edge isslightly inclined outward as seen at 18h, and the `outer corner of said125 edge is rounded as seen at 18; and thereby, when the protrudingportion of the tread, which is also slightl tapered as shown, is flexedsideward by the exigencies of travel, the bending is distributed oversome distance from the angle between the body of the tread and theflange, 5, and the side of the tread member is' stopped against saidround edge, 18, whose form is such as to avoid tearing or seriouslywearing the surface of the tread element folded against it.

I claim:

1. A vehicle wheel comprising in combination with the felly,guard platessecured thereto and forming between them a seat for aV yielding tire, a'tire lodged in such seat comrising a tread element or member ofyielding material for cushioning and an inflatable tube interposed inthe seat between the same and the tread element, the guard plates havinginwardly opening recesses and the tread member having vlaterallyprojecting annular flanges entering said recesses less 1n dimensionradial with respect to the wheel than the recesses, said flanges havingradially elongated pockets at intervals in the circumference cf thewheel extending in depth farther than the laterally extending dimensionof the flanges, and rigid studs projecting from the bottom of therecesses into said pockets, spaced radially with respect to the wheelinward from the outer ends of the pockets.

2. A vehicle wheel comprising, in, combination with the felly, guardplates secured thereto and forming between them a seat for the yieldingtire; a tire lodged in such seat "comprising a tread element of yieldingmaterial for cushioning; an inflatable tube interposed within the treadelement; the guar l plates havinglateral inwardly opening annularrecesses, and the tread member having lateral projecting annular flangesentering said recesses less in Width than the latter, said flangeshaving at intervals in the circumference of the wheel radially elongatedpockets deeper than the laterally extending dimension of the flanges:rigid studs projecting from the guard plates from the bottoms of therecesses into said pockets respectively, and reinforcements lining thepockets.

3. A vehicle Wheel comprising in combination with a felly, guard platessecured thereto and forming, between them a seat for a yielding tire; atire lodged in such seat. comprising a tread member for cushioning, theguard plates having lateral in-v wardly opening annular recesses and thetread member having lateral annular flanges entering said recessesnarrower than the latter; having roll-bearings embedded in the sides ofthe tread member and anti-friction rolls journaled therein for rollingin planes radial in respect to the wheel and protrude ing from thesurface in which their bearings are thus embedded for bearing againstand rolling upon the inner surfaces of the guard plates.

4. A vehicle wheel comprising in combination with a felly, guard platessecured thereto and forming between them a seat for a yielding tire; atire lodged in such seat comprising a tread member for cushioning, theguard plates having lateral inwardly opening annular recesses, and thetread member having lateral annular flanges entering said recessesnarrower than the latter; roll bearings embedded inV the sides of thetread member and anti-friction rolls journaled therein for rolling inplanes radial in respect to the wheel and protruding from the surface inwhich their bearings are thus embedded for bearing a ainst and rollingupon the inner surface or the guard plates; such rolls being arranged inpairs, the two of each pair being substantially in line radially withrespect to the wheel.

5. A. vehicle wheel acomprising in combination with a felly7 guardplates secured thereto and forming between them a sea-t for a yieldingtire; a tire lodged in such seat comprising a tread member forcushioning, the guard plates having lateral inwardlyopening annularrecesses and the tread member having lateral annular flanges enteringsaid recesses narrower than the latter; roll! bearings embedded in thesides of the tread ,member and anti-friction rolls journaled therein forrolling in planes radial with respect to the wheel and protruding fromthe surface in which their bearings are thus em bedded for bearingagainst and rolling upon the inner surfaces of the guard plates; suchroll bearings for the several rolls whichare situated in differentradial planes being independent of each other. v

6. A vehicle' wheel comprising, in combination with the felly, guardplates secured thereto and forming between them a seatfor a yieldingtire; a tire lodged in such seat comprising a tread member of yieldingmaterial for cushioning and an inflatable tube interposed between saidtread member and the bottom of the seat; means by which said tube isbound at its inner circumference to the seat, such tube havingincorporated with it metal lug plates provided with lugs projectingradially from the outer circumference, the tread member having at itsinner circumference metal -lined pockets with.

yieldingly, said annular recesses in the In testimony whereof, havehereunto set guards being each outwardly bounded by l my hand atChicago, Illinois, this twentyan annular bead or inwardly 'projectingsixth day of August, 1909.

flange, such bead or fiange having its 1n- MELVILLE CLARK. 5 ner edgeslightly inclined outward and the lVitnesses:

outer or circumferential corner of said edge NORMAN L. BURTON,

rounded. I M. GERTRUDE ADY.

